“I think I’m still the future of the team, I don’t really see anyone else. With Lando Norris, it’s too early to talk about that. I’m concentrating on myself,” Vandoorne said.

He said he still feels appreciated by the F1 community.

“My talent is recognised,” he said. “I have not become a bad driver from one day to the next, and I’m always getting better.”

Vandoorne said he is not thinking about moving to another team.

“Ferrari has been struggling for a long time and McLaren is now in a similar situation,” he said.

“All the ingredients are here to get results, but of course I cannot wait ten years to get a competitive car. I want to race with a top car as soon as possible to show what I can do, but I don’t think it will take McLaren that long.

“The start of the season certainly didn’t go as he wanted. We all had high expectations that McLaren would take a big step forward, which was not 100 per cent successful.

“We are better than last year, but we still have to take a big step,” he added.